Pareidolia
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TITLE INFORMATION
Author: James Jean, Takashi Murakami & Guillermo del Toro
Publisher: PIE
Year Published: 2015
Dimensions: 9.1in. x 12in.
Pages: 302
Pareidolia is a retrospective of James Jean’s work up to 2015. The breadth of work in this book includes professional work from album covers to commercial art to special projects with Prada, and personal work from concept sketches to spreads of sketchbooks. Pareidolia features two introductions, one by Takashi Murakami and the other by Guillermo del Toro, a cover that folds out into a double-sided poster, and 300 pages filled with breathtaking work. This is an incredible collection of work, and the variety will inspire any visually creative person. It’s easy to become inspired by Jean’s color palettes, line work, patterns, metaphors, and storytelling in this body of work.
This book is best for any person who does not currently own any of James Jean’s previous collections like Rebus, Rift, and Kindling. A lot of the work in this retrospective is also featured in those books. The only work not featured in this retrospective is his work from Fables. This book is also best for those who only want to look at James Jean’s work. This book is not ideal for anyone who is interested in reading about Jean’s process or work as the only writing is in the one paragraph long introductions. This is a purely visual book. Those interested in reading about his process should check out Fables. This being said, it’s easy to spend hours mesmerized staring at Jean’s paintings and discovering the ambiguous figures in the ebbs and flow of the visuals.
